Myanmar frees political prisoners on day of historic Obama visit

YANGON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Myanmar's government beganreleasing dozens of political prisoners on Monday as BarackObama arrived for the first visit by a sitting U.S. president tothe former dictatorship.

Sixty-six prisoners were scheduled to be freed, two-thirdsof them dissidents, according to prison officials and activists.

They included prominent figures such as Myint Aye, a seniorPrison Department official told Reuters, speaking on conditionof anonymity.

A third of those released were former military intelligencepersonnel who fell foul of the junta, according to the 88Generation Students political group.

Myint Aye is arguably the most prominent dissident left inMyanmar's gulag. He was one of dozens of activists arrested onwhat Amnesty International says were trumped-up charges andconvicted in secret courts on flimsy evidence or confessionsextracted under torture.

A former member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League forDemocracy party, he was arrested for the ninth time in August2008 for his alleged role in the bombing of an office belongingto a junta-backed political organisation.

Myint Aye confessed to the bombing after militaryintelligence officers forced him to watch the torture of hisco-accused, said his lawyer.

"I know they freed us just because of President Obama'strip," Yan Shwe, who was convicted with Myint Aye, told Reutersin a telephone interview shortly after his release from KalePrison in northwest Myanmar.

"I thank him for this but frankly speaking we shouldn't havebeen sent to prison all along since all these were falseaccusations."

Four political prisoners were released from Kale Prison, butabout half a dozen more remain inside, said Yan Shwe.

International human rights groups accused President Obama ofignoring abuses in Myanmar and Cambodia while honouring themwith his first presidential visit since his re-election.

Obama denied his visit to Myanmar was an endorsement of thecountry's government, but rather an acknowledgement of theprogress made towards democratisation and abandoning its pariahstatus earned during 49 years of military rule, he said during anews conference in Thailand on Sunday.

In a further sign of reform, the government will also permitthe International Committee of the Red Cross to resume prisonervisits within the country, said a Myanmar government pressrelease issued late on Sunday.

The government also plans to "devise a transparent mechanismto review remaining prisoner cases of concern by the end ofDecember 2012."